At the outset of the proceedings, a reply was submitted on behalf of Superintendent Kot Lakhpat Jail, wherein it was stated that PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif was lodged in a sub-jail in Islamabad and a medical board had advised him bed rest.

The court ordered to produce Sharif before the court on next hearing. To which, Sharif’s counsel Amjad Pervez submitted that if medical board permits then he has no objection in producing Sharif before the court.

However, NAB Prosecutor Waris Janjua argued that the matter was being delayed as the same ‘reasons’ were used during the last hearing.

At this stage, a police inspector told the court that raids were conducted to arrest Kamran Kayani, Khalid Hussain, and Nadeem Zia after issuance of their arrest warrants during the last hearing, but their houses were locked.

Upon this, the NAB prosecutor pleaded with the court to issue directions for initiating the process of declaring the accused as proclaimed offenders.

The court, after hearing arguments of all parties, ordered for initiating the process of declaring Kayani, Hussain, and Zia as proclaimed offenders.

Furthermore, the court directed for publication of notices in newspapers, ordering the accused to appear in the court till February 11.

The court also ordered for producing Sharif on the next date of hearing, while adjourning the matter till January 24.

If the said accused fail to appear in the court despite the publication of notices in newspapers, it would result in seizure of their properties and issuance of further warrants.

An unusual and never-before-seen situation occurred at the holiest place in Islam, Masjid-al-Haram where thousands of insects invaded the sacred place. The incident left residents in a shock as nothing like this has ever happened before.

On 8th January 2019, a video went viral on the social media where it can be seen that how everything at the sacred mosque has been covered with the insects. According to Dr. Jacky Judas, the manager and scientific adviser of terrestrial biodiversity at Emirates Nature, this is unbelievable. He said that I have never seen this species in these big numbers. “This is the first time for me to see this species in big numbers. I am not surprised that people are saying the same”, Dr. Judas added.

He suspects that a few insects from Arabian Peninsula where people cultivate crickets for bird feed could have escaped and spread to Makkah. He is unsure about the species of the insects too, “they could be related to the true cricket, Gryllus campestris”, told Dr. Judas.

Soon after that, Makkah Municipality has appointed 130 people to tackle the infestation. In a statement issued by the authority stated that the special teams of sanitation workers have been hired to eradicate the insects from God’s house. They are speeding up their efforts in the interest of comfort and safety of guests to Great Mosque.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar on Wednesday made it clear that the Supreme Court will not allow Indian content to be shown on Pakistani TV channels as it “damages our culture”.

A three-member SC bench, under the chief justice’s stewardship, was hearing an appeal by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority’s (Pemra) against the high court’s decision to lift the ban on the broadcast of Indian content on TV channels in Pakistan.

The Pemra counsel Zafar Iqbal Kalanauri apprised the SC bench that foreign content had been banned on court orders before a high court issued a stay order against it.

Pemra Chairman Saleem Baig told the court that 65 per cent of the content shown on Filmazia channel is foreign and that the number at times goes as high as 80 per cent.

At this, the chief justice remarked that “we will not allow Indian content to be aired on [Pakistani] channels”.

Pemra counsel explained to the chief justice that “Filmazia is not a news channel but is an entertainment channel; it does not do any propaganda.”

“It is, however, damaging our culture,” the top judge countered.

The chief justice observed that the Pakistan Broadcasters Association’s counsel, Faisal Siddiqui was not in attendance. “We cannot pass a judgement without hearing him,” he said.

Subsequently, the hearing was adjourned till the first week of February.

In 2016, Pemra had imposed a complete ban on airing Indian content on local television and FM radio channels.

The decision was largely seen as a tit-for-tat move after similar actions were taken by some channels and the entertainment industry in India against Pakistani content and artists.

In 2017, the Lahore High Court had lifted the Pemra-imposed ban, declaring it null and void as the federal government had no objections regarding the same.

In October 2018, the Supreme Court had reinstated the ban on the transmission of Indian content on local television channels, setting aside the LHC orders.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are likely to sign memoranda of understanding for more than $10 billion Saudi investment in Pakistan this month. Pakistan will also sign similar MoUs with China, the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia over the next two months.

This was said in the second meeting on ease of doing business (EoDB) presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday. The meeting was told that the MoU on investment framework with the UAE was expected next month.

Finance Minister Asad Umar said Saudi Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz would visit Pakistan next month and most of the MoUs were expected to be signed during his trip.

PM briefed about similar agreements that will be signed with China, UAE and Malaysia in next two months

When contacted, Board of Investment (BoI) Chairman Haroon Sharif said Saudi Arabia was interested in Pakistan’s four sectors — oil refinery, petrochemicals, renewable energy and mining. “We are expecting $10bn plus Saudi investment and the MoUs to be signed in this regard will not be common or vague but concrete agreements,” he added.

The $10bn investment will be in addition to the $6bn bailout package given by Riyadh to Islamabad during Prime Minister Khan’s visit to Saudi Arabia in October last year. “According to a survey, 65 per cent of the investments will take place in the country’s commercial hub Karachi and 35pc in Lahore. Therefore, better law and order situation and ease-of-doing-business opportunities were prerequisite for foreign investment,” the BoI chairman added.

He said the government had made it mandatory for all foreign firms to invest in joint ventures with Pakistani firms so that local companies could also get boost and deal with local issues in a better way.

He said Saudi firm Aramco would invest in an oil refinery and was likely to set up its own refinery in Pakistan. “Saudi Arabia is also interested in petrochemicals and will make investment in this sector as well,” he added.

Mr Sharif said there was a big room for renewable energy in Sindh, Balochistan and central Punjab and, therefore, Saudi firm Aqua Power, which controls renewable energy business in Tunisia, the UAE and Jordon, had a comprehensive plan on renewable energy projects in Pakistan.

He said he had recently visited China and signed MoUs on industrial cooperation under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CEPC). “Now we have to build economic zones along the corridor.”

The BoI chief said the UAE was interested in agriculture, housing and other sectors. He added that four Malaysian firms were also due this month and would invest in four sectors — halal meat, gemstone, information technology and hi-tech education.

An official press release issued by the Prime Minister Office said: “Briefing the meeting about various positive developments with regards to investment facilitation, it was informed that an MoU on industrial cooperation has been signed with China last month. The MoU with Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is expected to be signed this month whereas investment framework MoU with the UAE is expected in February 2019.”

The meeting was attended by the finance minister, Adviser to the PM on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood, PM’s adviser Dr Ishrat Hussain and the BoI chairman.

The BoI chairman briefed the prime minister about the progress on various indicators related to ease of doing business.

The meeting was informed that the number of taxes had been brought down from 47 to 21. “We have clubbed together many taxes to facilitate the business community,” Mr Sharif added.

He said a new system of value added tax refund would be in place by March 31 which would significantly reduce time in obtaining the VAT refund, adding that efforts were also being made to improve the risk-management system to reduce the number of physical audits.

About the ease of starting business, the prime minister was informed that integration of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan with provincial portals and Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) had been completed in Punjab and efforts were being made to expedite launch of such portal in Sindh.

The meeting was informed that significant progress had been made to facilitate provision of electricity and timely information to the businesses. Besides availability of required documents on website, a full online application system is being rolled out and advance notifications are being ensured about change in tariff, etc.

In the area of getting credit, the meeting was informed that registrar would be appointed by the end of this month and rules under the Secured Transaction Act were being finalised by the Ministry of Finance.

The prime minister emphasised the need for greater focus on addressing issues relating to ease of doing business in Sindh since Karachi was financial hub of the country.

It was decided that regular meetings on EoDB would be chaired by the prime minister with participation of the chief ministers and chief secretaries. It was also decided that dedicated EoDB offices would be set up at federal and provincial levels for the purpose of removing bottlenecks and facilitating investors for smooth business operations.

LAHORE: As celebrated Brazilian Football maestro, Ricardo Kaka, and another great Portuguese midfielder, Luis Figo, are due to land in Pakistan Thursday (today) to play two matches in Karachi and Lahore, rather disturbing news had flashed on a few local television networks that the formidable sporting duo will not call on Premier Imran Khan in Islamabad due to paucity of time despite reported requests from Prime Minister’s Office.

The Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister, Fawad Chaudhary also confirmed the news but did not elaborate much on the subject.

The tour of the two retired Football giants has reportedly been managed by a sports management company. Ricardo Kaka, regarded as one of the finest footballers of all times, was named in both the FIFA World Eleven and UEFA Team of the Year thrice between 2006 and 2009. In 2010, he was named in the A.C. Milan Football Club’s Hall of Fame.

Having scored 149 goals in 461 matches, the 36-year old Kaka was the first sportsperson to amass 10 million followers on Twitter. He had also scored 29 goals for Brazil in 92 matches for his national side.

After his success with Milan, Kaka had joined Real Madrid Club for a transfer fee of 67 million Euros in 2010. At that time, this was the second transfer fee (in Euros) ever , behind only the 77.5 million Euro fee for French player, Zinedine Zidane.

Meanwhile, the 46-year old Luis Figo had won 127 caps for the Portugal national team, a record at the time but later broken by Cristiano Ronaldo. Having scored 93 goals in 577 matches, Figo had also netted the ball 32 times for his country, Portugal.

Figo captained the Portugal squad during the 2006 World Cup, leading the team to the semi-finals. Known for a quick, elegant, highly skilful player with a dribbling ability that allowed him to frequently take on and beat defenders in one-on-one situation, his controversial transfer in 2000 from Barcelona to bitter rivals Real Madrid set a world record fee of 62 million Euros.

It is pertinent to note that in July 2017, Brazil’s Ronaldinho, former Manchester United stalwart Ryan Giggs, former England goalkeeper David James, Dutch star George Boateng, former French players Robert Pires and Nicolas Anelka, and Portuguese player Luis Boa Morteand had also participated in two exhibition matches in Pakistan.

In its July 10, 2017 report, Germany’s public international broadcaster Deutsche Welle or DW had stated: “Ronaldinho, 37, who was part of Brazil’s 2002 World Cup winning team, told reporters he was on a “goodwill mission” aimed at inspiring youngsters to play the game.

Giggs, who retired from international football in 2014, said he was impressed by Pakistan’s love for football. His former club, Manchester United, has a strong fan base in the Islamic country. The event was organized by Leisure Leagues Pakistan, which said the purpose behind bringing football stars like Ronaldinho and Giggs to Pakistan was to promote the sport in the country and portray its positive image.”

Remember, soon after landing in Islamabad in a flight from Dubai, the above-named international footballers had visited the Pakistani Army’s headquarters in Rawalpindi and had met Pakistan’s military chief, General Qamar Bajwa.

It has become a common phenomenon among the
youth to vent on social media about their depression and often attempting to
kill themselves. In a country where depression is considered a taboo and
suicide are criminal offenses, those social media posts are seen as nothing but
desperate attention tactics. The unfortunate reality is that they actually do
it for attention just not for the reason most people think but no one including
close friends and family takes them seriously and they are left isolated with only
one solution in their mind.

Last year we saw a forthcoming model, Anam Tanoli committed suicide due to severe depression. Another unfortunate case was that of a medical student Jamal Muhammad who was unable to cope with the pressure of studies. There are many other similar cases which may not have widely reported in the media.

The issue is that when a case like this
occurs, social media goes abuzz and many celebrities talk about suicide
awareness and raising issues on mental health. But the problem is that no one
talks about what to implement and how to take practical measures in order to
prevent similar cases from happening.

Pakistan is an overpopulated country and
despite that, there is not a significant number of psychiatrists and
psychologists available in the country, according to a 2009 report by WHO
(World Health Organization). Secondly, mental health is not taken as a serious
issue even by close family and friends. The third and most important reason is
that even someone goes for therapy, it is very expensive. Many Pakistanis do
not have the means to go for such expensive therapy.

There are also very few statistics and reports
which are outdated on the issue of suicide in the country. This year, we have
seen an alarming rise in suicides in the country among the youth. The lack of
importance given to such cases needs to be dealt with and the stigma attached
with it must be removed. The fact that suicide is a criminal offense is not
going to stop anyone from committing suicide. Instead, the government should
take proper steps in order to erase the mindset that is attached to suicide and
depression. They should also provide free or affordable healthcare for people
who are dealing with such issues. Educational institutions can also play a
major role by assigning counselors in order to address the matter. Families and
friends should also check up on their loved ones and get proper help for them
when they notice signs.

It is important to ensure concrete matters;
otherwise, this will keep happening. Because it is a concerning matter and
there are ways that can be taken to stop this. So please, seek help or reach
out to anyone you’re close to in case something is happening. Remember, there
is always someone out there to help and you’re strong enough to deal with it.